Sabtu, April 20, 2013

Michael McCuistion who came to (Shirley) Walker's attention via a demo tape passed through husband Don, remembers being intimidated by his early trials. "She was such an enormous talent, and her musical skills were off the charts. She would take my sketches, which were about ten lines tall in various clefs, an sit at the piano to play them, simultaneously reducing and sight-reading in temp to picture to get an idea of what I had written." It was a skill Walker had honed over many years; she had done similar on-the-fly piano reductions for Carmine Coppola on THE BLACK STALLION, and for Danny Elfman on BATMAN. "The first time she did that I know my jaw must have hit the floor," says McCuistion.

DISC ONE1. BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - Main TitleComposed by Danny Elfman

Danny Elfman's original main title is here presented "clean," without the sound effects that accompanied the broadcast version (see disc four). Elfman arranged the cue himself, with orchestration by Mark McKenzie, based on his Batman theme for the 1989 Burton film. The combination of music and imagery was deemed so iconic that the title BATMAN never actually appeared on the screen.

50. BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - End Credits (Extended)Composed by Danny Elfman

Danny Elfman's end credits adaptation of his '89 theme was abridged for broadcast, clipping the initial 4 seconds and excising a passage from 0:22-0:33. An alternate ending was also used (see disc three). This is the uncut version of the theme, in its original form.

DISC TWO1. BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - Main Title (Piano Version)Composed by Danny Elfman and Shirley Walker

Early in the development of the series, Walker was asked to come up with an original concept for the show's main title sequence. She performed and recorded this piano demo against a beeping metronome, utilizing both Elfman's theme and her own original theme. (This is the earliest surviving take, and represents the composition in stripped-down form; additional components would have been overlaid later, as heard in the synth mock-up that opens disc three.)

50. BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - End Credits (Alternate Beginning)Composed by Danny Elfman

This alternate version of Elfman's end credits strips the live strings from the introductory measures, leaving the reinforcing synth exposed.

DISC THREE1. BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - Main Title (MIDI Version)Composed by Danny Elfman and Shirley Walker

After evolving her proposed version of the main title on piano, Walker moved into synth mock-ups. This incarnation, which never made it to the scoring stage, continues to feature both the Elfman and Walker themes.

50. BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - End Credits (Alternate Ending)Composed by Danny Elfman

This alternate version of Elfman's end credits music features a sharper final crescendo, as heard in the broadcast version of the cues.

DISC FOUR1. BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - Main Title (with Sound Effects)Composed by Danny Elfman

Elfman's title theme was augmented for broadcast with an explosive crash at 0:15 and a dramatic thunderclap at 0:56.

34. BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - End Credits (Alternate Beginning and Ending)Composed by Danny ElfmanFor this take of Elfman's end credits music, both the alternate beginning and ending (as heard on discs two and three) are used.

The right way to produce a film score album is the way we did them (complete and chronological). It may seem like there were a hundred people who wanted abridged albums, but it was really just one guy who posted a hundred times. I’m not saying our way is creatively the best, but it is the best for our audience.

I think that as listening experiences, yes, the shorter presentations are better. It’s natural that if you cherry-pick the best cues and cut out the boring parts, the album will be better. But then people lament what got cut. There is always that short 20-second transition that is your favorite moment in the entire score that the composer (usually Goldsmith) left off the original album—who are we to perpetuate that deprivation? There is no perfect solution except to release everything complete and chronological, and let people make their own abridged sequences

Rabu, April 17, 2013

You’ve known them for years, maybe all your life: the great comicbook movie and TV themes. John Williams’ soaring brass flourishes for Superman, Danny Elfman’s brooding Gothic fanfare for “Batman,” even the silly Spider-Man title song from the TV series that was so catchy it wound up in the first three Spidey movies.

Once upon a time, superhero movies demanded big orchestras and heroic musical signatures. The concept dates back to the Max Fleischer “Superman” cartoons of the 1940s, carried on in the “Adventures of Superman” series of the ’50s.

But in the 21st century, do big-budget comicbook movies still require the same treatment? More to the point, do audiences demand it? Is it a risky strategy to depart from the decades-old musical traditions of DC and Marvel heroes?

On May 11, 2013 the Golden State Pops Orchestra will stage a historic concert in celebration of Varèse Sarabande's 35th Anniversary and host a gathering of the label's roster of composers, along with other dignitaries from the film music world of Los Angeles.

A special concert program has been prepared specifically for the GSPO by Robert Townson, producer of over 1200 of Varese Sarabande's soundtrack releases since 1986. Townson will host the evening and present highlights from the label's past, with music by Jerry Goldsmith (Rudy), Alex North (Spartacus) and Georges Delerue (World Concert Premiere of Academy Award-winning A Little Romance, featuring flute soloist Sara Andon), plus a wide selection of contemporary blockbusters by Hans Zimmer, Michael Giacchino, John Powell, Danny Elfman and many others.